The odyssey of "Lefty" Barnes

Published: Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 10:46 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, July 16, 2013 at 10:46 p.m.

The late Junie "Lefty" Barnes has an interesting chapter in the annals of baseball history, including a very brief stint with the Cincinnati Reds, as it pertains to Davidson County.

Barnes, who died Dec. 31, 1963 in Jacksonville, made it all the way to the top at 22 when he was a September call-up by the Reds in 1934. Barnes appeared in two games and faced exactly two batters. He walked one and retired the other. His first appearance was on Sept. 12, 1934 against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Barnes got put in a real tough spot, entering the game in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded. Barnes walked that batter and forced in the winning run as the Reds lost 8-7. Barnes retired the one batter he faced on Sept. 21, 1934. No box score was available for that game.

And that was it. Barnes never made it back to the bigs. But just getting there is a major accomplished. History is dotted with thousands and thousands of players, some who were can't-miss prospects, who never appeared in a Major League game. Right now there are three county baseball players — Levi Michael, Chaz Frank and Justin Livengood — in minor league baseball. Whether any or all of them make the bigs is an untold chapter. Barnes did and that's something his family can always remember.

Though he never made it back to the top, Barnes continued to play minor league baseball for several years, a path taken by many players. He made stops in some interesting locations, to say the least.

A star pitcher at Wake Forest, Barnes was a starter most of his career. In 1993, his first season as a pro, Barnes was 14-8 for the Wilmington Pirates of the Piedmont League. Yes, that Wilmington. Right here in North Carolina. Wilmington is one of many cities that once had minor league baseball but don't at present. The Pirates were a Class B team. Minor league baseball was classified differently back then.

Barnes found himself back in Wilmington in 1934 and went 18-13. He was a workhorse, throwing 276 innings. That's something not seen at any level of baseball in the era of five-man rotations. It also earned him a call-up to Cincinnati, bypassing several classifications.

In 1935, Barnes pitched for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the International League, then a Double-A circuit. He was 8-10 with a 4.32 earned run average. Back then an ERA over 4.00 could get one demoted (imagine that in today's game) and Barnes was in Class A ball in 1936, going 12-12 with a 3.57 ERA in Nashville of the Southern Association.

That got Barnes back to the Double-A level in 1937. He was 10-9 with a 2.53 ERA for Galveston of the Texas League and finished the season making one appearance for the Baltimore Orioles, who were then in the International League.

Barnes was back in the Texas League in 1938 where he went 14-15 with a 3.53 ERA for the Shreveport Sports. That was a good enough body of work to get Barnes back to Double-A ball, this time with the Detroit Tigers organization. Barnes was 7-18 with a 5.79 ERA in 1939 at Toledo.

That last season at the Double-A level represented the turning point for Barnes' baseball career. He made two appearances for Toledo before being cut loose. Barnes hung on for three more years at the Class D level and much closer to home. He went 11-7 with a 3.61 ERA at Mooresville and Concord of the North Carolina State League.

Then he got real close to home.

Barnes played for both the Lexington Indians, who played at Holt-Moffitt Field, and Salisbury Giants of the NCSL, going 13-10 with a 4.54 ERA. At 29, he was the oldest player on either team. One of the teams in that league was the Thomasville Tommies, who played at Finch Field.

In 1942, Barnes went 3-5 with a 4.41 ERA in nine starts for the Statesville Owls of the NCSL. And then his career was done.

Barnes was 110-107 with an ERA of 3.01 in the his 10 minor league seasons. As they didn't have the designated hitter back then, Barnes had a career batting average of .219 in 748 plate appearances.

That's not too shabby.

Barnes may have passed away nearly 50 years ago but there's still baseball in the family. His great grandson, Scottie Franklin Simpkins, played in the 2013 Cal Ripken state tournament in Churchland for UC/Porter Ridge.

The tournament was played at the Churchland Athletic Complex, not far from where Barnes is buried at the Barnes Cemetery.

Mike Duprez can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 218 or mike.duprez@the-dispatch.com.

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